Filmmaker Jennifer Lin focuses documentary lens on the arts
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Jennifer Lin is a Philadelphia native who has crafted a creative career in storytelling.
After 31 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, she made her first foray into film with 'Beethoven in Beijing' - a chronicle of the Philadelphia Orchestra's trip to China in the 1970s.
Her latest project, 'Beyond Yellowface', follows two dancers of Asian descent who are tasking ballet companies around the world to do better with racial representations in ballet.
She also has a film currently on the festival circuit titled 'Ten Times Better'.
The film tells the story of George Lee, who now is an 89-year-old blackjack dealer in Vegas, but in 1954 was a pioneer in the world of ballet, as a Chinese dancer in George Balanchine's production of 'The Nutcracker'.
The documentary title refers to something Lee's mother told him when they were leaving a refugee camp in the Philippines to go to America.
She told him Americans in the ballet world would judge him differently, and that being Asian would require him in their eyes to be 'ten times better' than his non-Asian counterparts.
Lin and her production team, which includes her daughter Cory Lin Stieg, are making personal appearances with Lee around the country in conjunction with the showing of the film.
Pentalina Productions
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